Friday, July 15, 2011

Cranes from the Land of Enchantment

CRANE COUNT: 158
JAPAN FUND: $33.10

Hey guys! It's good to be back home in 'ol Indiana! ("cue "Back Home in Indiana")

We had quite an interesting drive back from New Mexico- after the RV broke down, we left it by the highway somewhere near Chandler, Oklahoma. After unhooking the Chevy Trailblazer we were towing, we packed four people, two very big dogs, and most the contents of the RV into it. Long story made short: the RV is still in Oklahoma, and somehow, by some miracle, we and the Blazer made it back to Indy at 3 am in time for work on Monday! I honestly can say I am done with road trips for a while =P

Although Oklahoma as a state is not my idea of a great time, I have to hand it to Oklahomians. Somehow, at a gas stop in Oklahoma, my ipod touch fell out of the car and onto the pavement. The lady who almost ran over it in her car (ahhh!) found my phone number on it, called, and promised to send it back. And sure enough, I got a package in the mail today- less than a week since I had lost it- with my ipod carefully packed in two layers of bubble wrap! Little acts of kindness like this really makes me feel better about the world in general. It really would have been so easy to have not looked for a phone number, to just have kept it, or to even have forgotten to mail it back...it most definitely made my day<3

It also put the crane project on a slight hold, since it is on there that I keep the official list with each person's name and crane number. Ok, enough yabbering and excuses though...I have some catching up to do.

135- Amy
136- Drew
137- Justin
139- Christy & Jim- Ladybug Campground in Cuba, Missouri.

Christy & Jim were  motorcycling route 66 and staying at campgrounds along the way:)
140 -Dave & Valencia, KOA Campground, Clinton Oklahoma.

As a side note: if you ever decide to go on a RV/camping road trip, try to stay at KOA's. Two words: free pancakes. Oh, and usually they have a pool.
141- Debby, Amarillo Texas
142- Suzi & Peter, Carizozo Market- Carizozo, New Mexico.

On the drive through this little town, my dad spotted a sign for Carizozo apple cider, and we stopped at a little grocery store to get some- flavors raspberry or cherry. After careful consideration, we selected raspberry, and the taste was like literally nothing I have every tried before. I decided on a mixture of Dr. Pepper and vinegar with an aftertaste of chocolate chip cookies....yep! I think you will just need to take a trip to Carizozo to experience it;)
143- my Grandma Dorothy, Mesilla, New Mexico
144- Sarah, Mesilla, New Mexico

And I'm having some technical difficulties with 145 currently...
146- Paulette, Las Cruses, New Mexico
I have quite a few more....I'll put em up in my next post- don't worry!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

CRANE COUNT: 155
JAPAN FUND: $33.10

OK, finally! Since the last post, I have driven across half the country (or at least from Indy to New Mexico) and given cranes to people in four new states along the way- Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico! I was busy folding them in everywhere from Mexican restaurants and nursing homes to campgrounds and tiny grocery stores- out of menus, travel brochures, frilly paper table mats, and KOA pamphlets...

The road trip, which although lent itself to some good opportunities to share cranes, did not lend itself to having much internet availability! So I have quite a lot of catching up to do- I've made and given away 29 cranes since the last post!! I also have a few pictures from before the trip, so here it goes!!

127- Alexis

128- Destinie
129- Hillary and Jenny
130- Scott at Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Carmel (his crane was made out of a watermelon frozen yogurt card) 
131- Dempsey at Kroger

132- Melinda at....guess where?!?! Steak and Shake, duh!!
133- Jon at Bub's Cafe on Father's day

134- Dave at hhgreg electronics
Well I am currently writing this from a motel room in a tiny town in Oklahoma after the RV broke down....hopefully it will be fixed and we will be on the road again by tomorrow!

Last thing: tonight another natural disaster struck Japan- a 7.1 earthquake. Read more at http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/09/japan.earthquake/.

Currently there are no reported injuries or damage, but it only occurred around 40 minutes ago. Please keep the Japanese people in your prayers!<3

I still have a lot of pictures to post, so I will put them up later.